Comox's East Coast Import

Introducing April's Sunrise Vet Pet of the Month - Cooper! We asked his family a few questions about him. Here's what the Gresko's had to say!

1) Cooper is from Nova Scotia - how did he make it to beautiful BC? We were posted from Comox, BC to Greenwood, Nova Scotia in Aug 2008 and I started searching for Labradoodle breeders on the East Coast. We found Labradoodle By Design right in Nova Scotia and went to visit her. She had a wide variety of sizes and in Sep 2009 we chose Cooper, a small/medium Chocolate Australian Labradoodle from her. We were then posted back to Comox BC in 2011 and made the drive back across the country with our Cooper!

2) It seems like Cooper is a very important part of your family! Tell us more about the impact he's had on your lives. In the fall of 2013 we went through a very difficult family situation. I have only one son and Cooper was extremely sensitive to our emotions and helped both me and my son cope with the changes. He began going into my son's bed to help him fall asleep at night and always made him feel better when nothing else would help. He has also helped us both with health issues and won't leave our side if we are ill. I was released from my 30+ year military career due to medical reasons and he has been instrumental in my recovery. He is unbelievably intuitive with anyone he comes in contact with and will "talk" to you to get your attention. We can't imagine being without him.

Cooper also LOVES to sing with us! I joined the Women's Military Wives Choir Comox in the fall of 2016 and have to practice frequently (because I'm not that good) and he signs along with me.

3) How has Cooper's experience been with Sunrise Veterinary Clinic? Sunrise Veterinary Clinic has been so helpful with Cooper! Back in April 2012, Cooper began vomiting and couldn't keep anything down for about 24 hours. I brought him in and x-rays were done. On the x-rays you could see that he had a blockage in his intestines and he required immediate surgery. His cecum was totally impacted with some sticks and it was removed. A biopsy of his intestines was also done and we found he had a rare form of Eosinophilic colitis and couldn't eat any animal proteins without getting very sick. He was put on a Hypoallergenic food and is fine unless he somehow gets a hold of some animal protein (he can be sneaky sometimes!).

Thanks to Cooper and the wonderful Gresko family for being such a valued part of our Sunrise family!

Do YOU want to be the next Sunrise Vet Pet of the Month? Stay tuned to our social media for our casting calls.

Lisa and Cooper at Point Holmes

Couch cuddles with Dylan

This is the day Dylan chose Cooper at Labradoodles By Design. He was the biggest and chubbiest of 9 puppies!